Cross Country - Yosemite, we lose ourselves all over again

Day 8 - 13 March

Green, blue, white... We felt like we were traipsing through a painting as we drove to Yosemite. The blue skies contrasted the young green grass and bunches of clouds formed shadows that only enhanced the shades around us. Are we glad we deferred this drive to morning?! This is us at our best judgment. The roads meandered gently through carpets of green on either side. The drive was full of little surprises. A pretty house atop a hillock here, a fleeting snow covered mountain there, flocks of Spring birds flapping past, a soft breeze, dewsdrops melting in the morning sun... This is undoubtedly the most beautiful part of our trip. It brought such unbearable joy to the deprived East Coast eye. We spent about 5 hours inside the park taking a disproportionately large number of pictures. Every vista point had irresistible views to offer. Every creek tantalized us with its shiny reflections. We stopped for lunch at a place called Iron Door Salon. It was a quaint little place with a unique decor. The interior was all dark wood with stuffed animal heads mounted on the walls. The ceiling was really interesting, it had thousands of dollar bills tacked on to it. Apparently, one needs to drive a tack into a dollar bill, roll it around a quarter and toss it at the ceiling. If the person manages to tack the bill to the ceiling then he/she gets invited to the "Dollar Party" that happens in May every year. The restaurant has been doing this for the past 16 years. Arun took sweeping shots of the place with his newest toy, his $400 wide angle lens.We first visited Bridal Veil Falls. The water flowed like a sheet of milk from hundreds of feet above. To reward us for the all the hardship we underwent to reach the place, there, right in front of us was a crisp cheerful rainbow. And it stayed for the entire hour we spent there. We had to drag ourselves away from the falls to ensure that we saw the rest of the place before dark.


Our next stop was at Yosemite Falls at the bottom of the valley. These falls were bigger but at a longer distance away. We waited there until sundown and got some great twilight pictures of the entire scene- the falls, the mountains and the acres of trees and grass around.

This place is Paradise on Earth. We're really tempted to visit again in the summer to find out what magic resides in the parts closed for winter.